you
Welcome to Verity Baptist Church Manila. Let's start our first service and let's get our hymns and turn to him number
Let's sing the song, Christ the Lord is risen today.
And number thirty-eight, Christ the Lord is risen today.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
On the verse, everybody sing.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
Alleluia.
Son soften in angels sing.
Alleluia.
Wings or war can triumph ride.
Alleluia.
Free thee and center with light.
Alleluia.
Once again, once again, our glorious King.
Alleluia.
Where all death is now thy sting.
Alleluia.
Lying once in all oneself.
Alleluia.
Drive me home and hold me in the Alleluia.
Once again, once again, our glorious King.
One more night, now and more time.
And these days are wasting time.
Alleluia.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
Alleluia.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
Alleluia.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
Alleluia.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
All right.
Good morning, everybody.
Welcome to our special service for today.
I pray, Lord, that you would help us to be attentive to the
Lord.
All right.
Good morning, everybody.
Welcome to Verity Baptist Church.
Take out your bulletin here today.
And our verse of the week is John 14, verse 6.
The Bible reads, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
That's a great verse there.
We do have a mother big room back there for your convenience
as well as the ladies restroom.
The men's restroom is up here in front.
Remember, though, even during the service, maintain a
professional atmosphere and keep the children from running
and making noise during the church service.
On the next page, our service time is listed.
First service is at 10 a.m.
And then we have a short break in our 1115 service.
Today the first sermon is probably going to be a bit
shorter.
I'm expecting to get started around 11 a.m.
with the second service because we do have the Lord's
Supper after the second service here today to get done
on a normal time.
The Wednesday evening service is at 7 p.m.
So many times listed.
4 p.m.
on Wednesdays meeting here at the church building on
Saturdays all day at Casell Memorial Circle.
And we do have so many here today around 145.
We do have a lot of visitors.
So if you're here visiting with us today, after church
services, a lot of people just kind of get food and eat
their food here in fellowship which you're welcome to do
.
There's local restaurants or car and areas down the
street that you can bring food.
And we have soul winning at 145 meeting here at the
church building.
And our salvations and baptisms are listed there for
the year as well as the month to date.
Let me give you some totals from the soul winning
mega marathon.
As of now, I have 438 salvations reported simply from
this church.
Right?
So it's been a great success.
And between our three churches, we've already reached
100 soul winners.
I believe we'll reach over 75 soul winners just from
this church.
And that does include the results in bulla con cavite
and anything associated with members from our church
here.
And let's see.
Obviously today I would say we're going to have an
attendance record.
I'm pretty positive of that.
So praise the Lord for that.
And obviously happy Easter, everybody.
It's a big day here today.
And anyways, our birthdays and anniversaries for April
1st are down below.
And one thing I kind of make note of from time to time,
some people know this, some people don't.
My wife got named Chris Stan because she was born on
Easter.
And I double checked online and she was born on Easter.
That's why her parents gave her that name.
She has Christ in her name.
But anyways, on the next page, the Bible memorization
challenge.
Today is the last day for Jeremiah 10 verses 1 through
10.
Next week will be the last day for Jonah 3 verses 1
through 10.
Next week will be the last day for Jeremiah 10 verses
8 to 10, it's memorizing seven verses.
Below the age of 8, memorizing one verse.
Upcoming activities.
Today we do have our Easter service.
After the announcements, we'll do the choir.
We'll have the choir for both the first and the second
service.
After the second service, we'll do the Lord's supper.
We have the wedding coming up on Wednesday for brother
Fabian and sister Christine at 11 a.m. on Wednesday
here at the church building.
And our monthly prayer meeting coming up in a couple
weeks.
And then we'll do the first service here today.
And so I believe that's it for announcements.
And at this time, we will have our Verity Baptist
Church Manila choir perform for us.
Thank you.
Amen.
For the Scripture reading, please open your
Bibles to the book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah chapter 10.
And you are going to read Jeremiah chapter 10,
the verses 1 to 10.
Jeremiah chapter 10, the verses 1 to 10.
Please say amen when you're there.
Amen.
Hear ye the word, which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel.
Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the people are vain, for one cutteth the tree out of a forest, the work of the hands of the workmen with their eggs.
They decketh with silver and with gold, they fasteneth with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
They upright as the pantry, but speak not, they must needs be borne, because they cannot go.
Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD, thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
Who would not fear thee, O king of nations? For to thee doth it obtain.
Forasmuch as is among all the wise men of the nations, and in all the kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
But they are altogether brutish and foolish. The stock is the doctrine of vanities.
Silver spread into places brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workmen, and of the hands of the founder.
Blue and purple is the clothing. They are all the work of cunning men.
But the LORD is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting king.
At His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation.
Amen. Let us pray.
Thank you, our Father, for the day and for everyone who is here.
Thank you so much that you have given us your son, that Jesus died for us and for the resurrection.
Thank you so much for everything, also for your word.
We pray that you bless the service, we pray that you annoy the preacher,
and we pray that you also give us concentration and understanding.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Alright, we're here in Jeremiah chapter 10, and this is a bit of a unique sermon,
because we have the living God part one in the first sermon, and the living God part two in the second sermon.
And it's really one sermon, so the thing is, I'm not really going to try to end this sermon with, like, a big conclusion.
It's going to be kind of like, okay, we're taking a break, and then we're going to the second sermon.
And you're going to see this phrase, living God, appear many times in your Bible, 15 times in the Old Testament.
So in this first sermon, we're going to look up this phrase, all the times it appears in the Old Testament,
and the second sermon, all the times it appears in the New Testament.
Notice what it says here, Jeremiah 10, verse 1.
This is a very famous expression here.
And people often quote verses 3 and 4 to try to condemn Christmas trees.
That's not the context here in verses 3 and 4.
In this whole chapter, you can see what the context is.
It's up to you if you want to have a Christmas tree. We have one every single year.
You can think whatever you want of me, right?
And here's the context of what he's saying of decking a tree with ornaments and gold and silver.
Verse 5, they are upright as the palm tree, but speak not.
Well, of course, a tree doesn't speak.
So what is the point of Jeremiah?
It's referring to idolatry.
And he's saying they make these wooden idols, they deck it with gold and with silver, they paint it, they give it a mouth, they give it ears, they make it look nice.
And it's like, look, you can paint a mouth on it, it doesn't speak.
It's a dumb idol.
It says no words.
It says they are upright as the palm tree, but speak not.
They must needs be born.
What does that mean?
It means somebody created that idol.
And look, I mean, it's just common sense.
If I make an idol, that means the idol can't be God because I created it.
Now, this is very common. It makes perfect sense.
But look, the Catholic Church needs to figure this out.
It's like we just had, we live right by the biggest Catholic Church in Angeles City.
And right by where we lived, they had this big idolatrous festival just a couple days ago on, I think, Saturday night or Friday night.
And I was like walking in between idols to get to the church building.
Right? You had Jesus, you had Mary, you had all these idols.
I mean, it was packed.
People outside the Catholic Church for this big idolatrous festival.
It's like, look, you can try to make it like this make believe Jesus or this make believe Mary that you don't know what they look like.
It doesn't speak. It's a dumb idol. It's not real.
They must needs be born. Someone created them.
Because they cannot go.
Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
So look, if you smashed an idol to pieces with a hammer, you don't have to worry about being cursed as a result.
It's like, oh no, God's going to be really angry because I smashed this idol.
Right? Now look, I wouldn't suggest doing that because you're liable to get arrested or beat to death here.
But it means nothing.
It's an idol. It's nothing.
I mean, somebody can make that same idol, piece of wood, metal, stone, glass, whatever, it's just an idol.
It means nothing.
So the context here is not about celebrating Christmas.
The context is idolatry.
It says here in verse 6,
For as much as there is none like unto thee, O Lord, thou art great, and thy name is great in might, who would not fear the O king of nations?
For to thee doth it appertain.
For as much as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
But they are altogether brutish and foolish.
The stock is a doctrine of vanities.
Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workmen and of the hands of the founder.
Blue and purple is their clothing.
They are all the work of cunning men.
And look, oftentimes idols are made out of gold and silver.
And they talk about decking it with colors of blue and purple, which, look, those colors are basically colors of royalty in the Bible.
And what it's stating is these idols that they make actually cost a lot of money.
They're very valuable.
There would be people here in the Philippines that they don't have a big salary.
They have a lot of problems in their house and all these things.
And instead they just save up money for these big idols to worship it.
It's like, what are you doing?
Right, spending all your money on idols that mean nothing.
Verse 10, but the Lord is the true God.
He is the living God and an everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth shall tremble and the nations should not be able to abide His indignation.
What you're seeing here in Jeremiah 10 is a comparison between the true God, the real God, the living God, and every false God.
You're seeing a comparison between the true God and Shiva.
The true God and Brahman, or whatever God that you make, or the true God and Mary.
You're seeing this comparison in the Bible.
The Bible's saying, hey, this God's real.
This one had to be created.
It had to be born.
See, my God was here at the beginning.
He wasn't created.
He created me.
He created us.
The Bible says all things were made by Him.
He wasn't made by some man.
Right?
Now, in Jeremiah 10, you look at this verse, it says, but the Lord is the true God.
He is the living God.
And you might realize this, you might not, but the famous verse on the front of our bulletin, this comes from Jeremiah 10.
This is what Jesus is referencing when He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
You say, but where does it say the way?
Verse 2, learn not the way of the heathen.
This is what Jesus is referencing in John 14, verse 6, when He says, I am the way, as opposed to the way of the heathen and the false idols, the truth, the true God, the life, the living God.
And Jesus is basically quoting from Jeremiah chapter 10.
Actually, turn to John 14 now.
John 14.
John chapter 14.
So, in John 14, 6, when Jesus makes a statement, I am the way, the truth, and the life, yes, He's saying He's the way to heaven.
Yes, He's saying He's truth, He's not false.
Yes, He's saying He's life, there's eternal life in Him.
He's also saying He's God in the flesh.
Because in Jeremiah 10, it's talking about the true God, the living God, the real God, and every false God.
And Jesus is proclaiming Himself to be deity in John 14, in verse 6.
John 14, verse 1, it says, let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in Me.
In My Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.
And whither I go, ye know, and the way ye know.
He's saying, you know where I'm going, and you know the way to get there.
What is He saying in verse 4?
He's saying, you know that I'm going to heaven, and you know the way to get there.
Why? Because you're saved.
Verse 5, Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whether thou goest.
And how can we know the way?
Thomas has no idea what Jesus is talking about.
Why?
Go to John 13, and you'll see.
John 13, verse 36.
Look, of course, when you're reading your Bible, the end of a chapter doesn't mean it's a brand new thought, it's a completely new situation.
Often times when you're reading the Bible, you get to the end of a chapter, and you really got to keep going to keep going with the story.
Right?
John 13, verse 36.
Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou?
Jesus answered him, whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
Peter said unto him, Lord, why can I not follow thee now?
I will lay down my life for thy sake.
And what Jesus is speaking about is His death in John 13.
And Jesus is saying that He's going to die, and after He died, His soul was in hell for three days and three nights.
And He's saying, you can't go with me now, but you're going to go later.
Why?
Because after three days, He rose again, and of course, He's in heaven.
And He's saying, you can't go now, you've got a mission on your life here, Peter, but one day you're going to join me.
Verse 38.
Jesus answered him, wilt thou lay down my life for my sake?
Verily, verily, I say to thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice.
So why is Thomas confused?
Because Jesus is speaking about His death, and then He's speaking about going to heaven, and they just don't get what He's saying.
We have the benefit of hindsight.
We look at the Bible, we can look at every thought and every verse, we have time to process it and think about it, and it makes perfect sense.
And oftentimes when Jesus spoke, it goes over the head of the apostles.
They have no idea what He's talking about.
Now look, they understood there was going to be a resurrection, but what they did not understand was, you're going to die and three days later rise again.
They didn't seem to understand when it was going to take place.
Because when He died, they're just thinking, I don't know what happened.
Right?
I'm confused.
Right?
Now, look at verse number 7.
Verse 6, John 14, verse 6.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, as He's now talking about going to heaven.
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
What He's proclaiming here is a reference to Jeremiah 10, saying He is the living God.
He is the real God.
He is the true God, as that chapter is a comparison between the true God, the living God that we believe in, and every false God.
Look, we believe in the same God today that Jeremiah believed in.
The same God.
The same God of Moses.
The same God of Joshua.
The same God of Jeremiah or Daniel or King David or whoever you want to name is the same God that we believe in.
It's the one true God, the one living God.
He is the only one.
Beside Me there is no Savior, the Bible says in Isaiah.
He is the one true God, the one living God.
Verse 7.
If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also.
And from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him.
Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and sufficeth us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?
He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?
Now look, what Jesus is not saying is that He is the Father.
He said, well, how do you know that, Brother Stuckey?
Because there's a multitude of verses of both the Father and the Son.
The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.
I also do not believe He's saying, I look just like the Father.
What is the context?
Proving that you're the true God.
Proving you're the living God.
He's saying, look, I'm the representative of God the Father here on earth.
You say you want to see the Father, I mean the Bible says you can't see the Father and live.
He's like, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
He says, you want to see the true God, I'm right here.
Why are you asking to see the Father?
Right?
Verse 10, Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me.
He doeth the works, because obviously the Son was sent here to do the will of God the Father.
Right?
Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works sake.
Now turn your Bible to Deuteronomy 5.
Deuteronomy chapter 5.
And in this first sermon, all we're going to do is look through every reference to the living God in the Old Testament.
And we're going to end this sermon, it's going to be basically like, alright, let's close in a word of prayer.
You're going to be like, where was the conclusion?
There's not going to be a conclusion.
Okay?
It's called part two.
You better stay for the second sermon.
This is like in the old days, they'd have a really long movie, and you have the intermission for five minutes, where it's like, just take a break, and then get back to the story.
Okay?
Deuteronomy 5, verse 24.
And he said, Behold the Lord our God hath showed us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire.
We have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and He liveth.
Now therefore, why should we die?
For this great fire will consume us.
If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die.
For who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire as we have and lived?
Isn't this a beautiful picture of what Jesus Christ would do?
The living God speaking out of the midst of the fire.
Now this is not a direct reference to that, but there's the symbolism that's obviously there.
Because after Jesus was dead, His soul was in hell for three days, and three nights, speaking out of the midst of the fire.
The living God, right?
That physically died, His soul was in hell, and yet He was still the living God.
Right?
Go to Joshua 3.
Joshua 3.
It also reminds you of the story with Nebuchadnezzar, where in Nebuchadnezzar you have Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
So what does Nebuchadnezzar say?
And he's like, and the fourth is like the Son of God.
Now why did Nebuchadnezzar make that statement?
Well I believe that he had probably heard the Gospel from Daniel to be honest.
He seemed to have an understanding that the Son of God was going to be the Savior even though he didn't believe it himself.
Right?
And that seems to be the reference that he's making, but the fourth is like the Son of God in the midst of the fire.
In Joshua 3 verse 9,
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.
And Joshua said, Hereby he shall know that the living God is among you,
and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Gerasites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
So, if you had asked Moses about his God, you know one of the main things he would have said is,
My God's the living God.
Every other God is a false God. It's a dead God. It's not real.
You think of the story of Dagon, where Dagon falls over, and his head is chopped off, and his hands are chopped off.
And it's like, your God is a dead God.
My God is the living God.
That's what Moses said.
What did Joshua say?
He's like, the God we believe in is the living God.
Go to 1 Samuel 17. Let's see how David referred to the God that he believed in.
1 Samuel 17.
Now, when you're starting to read your Bible, the big attribute that is first mentioned about God is God Almighty.
That's really how you referred to God in the book of Genesis. That's the main way they knew Him.
But then you kind of see this transition, and of course, God is still Almighty. He's still omnipotent.
He's still all-powerful. He's still able to do anything.
But then you see this expression popping up throughout your Bible.
The living God. The living God. The living God.
1 Samuel 17 verse 26.
1 Samuel 17 verse 6 is a very famous story of David and Goliath.
1 Samuel 17 verse 26.
And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying,
What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away their approach from Israel?
For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
Look, Goliath and the Philistines are mocking God's people.
And then they're basically saying, Your God's false. Our God's true.
Look at you. We're all-powerful.
And when David comes on the scene, he refers to the God that we believe in as the living God.
Verse 34.
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock.
And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth.
And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them,
seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
Go to 2 Kings 19.
2 Kings 19.
You say, What are you saying, Brother Stuckey?
Here's what I'm saying.
If you had talked to King David saying, Hey, describe the God we believe in, he would have said, He's the living God.
If you had talked to Joshua, he's the living God.
If you had talked to Moses, he's the living God.
You say, Why? Because religions, they come, and they go.
Right in the Book of Acts, they talk about the whole world is worshiping Diana of the Ephesians.
What about in 2023?
I mean, that Temple of Artemis was destroyed. Nobody worships her now.
It's forgotten. It's not even known.
Religions, they come, they go.
And look, if you look at religions today, because look, Christianity is a continuation of the religion from the Old Testament.
It is true that in Judaism, that religion, so to speak, is still around.
Those are the people that rejected Jesus as the Christ.
But the Old Testament bears witness, and Jesus in the New Testament bears witness that He is the Christ the Messiah has prophesied.
This religion has stayed. But you know what? Religions, they come and go.
Right? Even when you look at religions that are common, they're completely changed.
I mean, Hinduism is a completely different religion than it was a thousand years ago.
It used to be that they would eat cow meat all the time, and that was like the primary food.
And now it's like the worst sin ever to eat cow meat.
You say, what? It's not the same religion. It's changed.
Religions, they come, they go, they're here today, they're gone tomorrow, but our God is the living God.
He's not going anywhere.
And people throughout every millennium have believed in the living God, the true God, and being saved, they told their kids about it.
Being saved, they told their neighbors about it, and this truth and this belief will always last.
The living God. Go on your Bible to 2 Kings 19. How did Hezekiah refer to God?
2 Kings 19 verse 4.
It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshaki. This is one of my favorite names in the Bible. Right?
Rabshaki. Right? I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correct.
That's how I say it. The Rabshaki. Right?
Whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to approach the living God.
And they will prove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard.
Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
And he refers to God as the living God. The living God.
Moses, the living God. Joshua, the living God.
King David, the living God. Hezekiah, the living God.
Drop down to verse number 15. Verse 15.
And we're not going to turn here, but in Isaiah 37 there's the parallel story and it's almost word for word the same.
It mentions the living God in Isaiah 37 verse 4 and also in Isaiah 37 verses 15 and 19.
But you're going to 2 Kings 19 verse 15.
And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwells between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth.
And it says, Thou art the God, even thou alone.
You know, that's kind of similar to the very famous Jehovah's Witnesses verse, whose name alone is Jehovah.
Right? They always quote that verse, whose name alone is Jehovah. You say, what is that saying? It's saying, He's the only one who is Jehovah.
I'm not Jehovah. You're not Jehovah. Only God is Jehovah.
Same wording, whose name alone is Jehovah. Here, thou art the God, even thou alone. Why? There's only one God.
Alone. He's God. Only. The only one. That's what it's referring to.
Verse 16, Lord, bow down thine ear and hear. Open, Lord, thine eyes and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria hath destroyed the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were no gods.
But the work of men's hands, wood and stone, therefore they have destroyed them.
So in these verses, you have a comparison between the living God, the real God, and the false gods.
And Assyria owned the world. And every country has their little god they worship.
And Assyria would come in, and they'd take their god and throw it in the fire.
They'd take their god and burn it. They'd take their god and they'd chop it up.
Guess what? You can't chop up the real God. Because he's not a piece of wood.
You know, he's not a piece of glass that you can smash into the ground.
Right? And what Hezekiah is saying is, hey, you know what? Assyria is correct. They did destroy the false gods.
You see, you can take that statue of Mary and burn it up. And you don't have to fear either.
Why? Because that's not God. You can take that statue of Jesus and burn it up.
By the way, you wouldn't even make God mad. That's not what God looked like. That's not what Jesus looked like.
And that's what it's saying here in Isaiah 37, that they're destroying all of these idols, the work of men's hands, these ones that are created.
But at the end of verse 15, what it said is, thou hast made heaven and earth.
You see, the God we believe in made everything. All things were made by Him, the Bible says.
But these idols that are created by man, they haven't even been around since the beginning.
And they were created by somebody.
But the God we believe in, the same God that Moses and Joshua and Hezekiah and Jeremiah and King David believed in, is the living God.
Go to Psalm 42. Psalm 42.
Psalm 42.
Psalm 42, verse 1.
As the heart paneth after the water brooks, so paneth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God, when shall I come and appear before God?
And as the psalmist refers to God, he says, the living God. The living God.
Go to Psalm 84. Psalm 84.
Psalm 84, verse 1.
How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
And by the way, in this verse, it talks about my soul thirsteth for God.
He's saying, above my necessary water, I wanted to be in God's house.
You know, you ought to put value in having a local church.
You ought to put value about being around God's people, hearing real preaching, getting to fellowship with God's people, getting to go soul winning with God's people.
You know, in 2023, you know what people put a lot of emphasis on? Money.
Money's the God of a lot of people.
That's why the Bible says you cannot serve God and mammon.
Why does God make that comparison?
Because a lot of people, this is their God.
This is what their life is about.
But you see in Psalm 84, hey, you know what, I thirsteth for God.
I want to be around God's people and hear God's word preached.
I want to be around God's people and fellowship with God's people.
Go to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23.
You say, Brother Stuckey, why is it significant that it says, living God, living God, living God?
We're tying together the Old Testament with the New Testament here today.
And look, when you think of the central thing in Christianity,
if you gave one word, not of a person, because you would say Jesus,
but if you gave one word of a description about what we believe as Christians
or what's important as Christians, what would you say?
Resurrection. Right?
The resurrection. This is the biggest day of the year for church.
It's about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
What makes our religion different than Islam?
We believe Jesus rose again.
What makes our religion different than Buddhism or Hinduism or these other religions?
We believe Jesus rose again.
The resurrection is the central thing to Christianity.
Got religions like Jehovah's Witnesses, they say they're Christian,
but they don't believe Jesus rose again.
It's like that's the central thing of Christianity.
The resurrection. I mean, His body wasn't there.
It's like, what are you talking about?
The one central thing you mention is the resurrection.
And what does the resurrection prove?
It proves Jesus is the living God.
Now, in the Old Testament, if you had talked to Moses and Joshua and Jeremiah
and Hezekiah and King David and God's people,
they would say we believe in the living God.
I would say we probably have a better understanding of what exactly that means.
Because it's an expression that makes sense.
Are God's the living God? Yeah, that makes sense.
But wait a minute. It goes deeper than that.
The resurrection was the ultimate proof of being the living God
when Jesus was dead and then He came back.
Right? Jeremiah 23 verse 36.
Jeremiah 23 verse 36.
And the burden of the Lord shall you mention no more,
for every man's word shall be his burden,
but perverted the words of the living God,
of the Lord of hosts, our God.
Go to Hosea 1.
Hosea chapter 1.
And if you remember several years ago, I preached through Hosea
maybe two or three years ago or something.
And one of the big things you see in Hosea is
what's the major sin you see popping up over and over again?
Idolatry.
Idolatry is mentioned over and over again.
And when you're speaking about idolatry,
what you're doing is making a comparison between a false God and the true God.
I mean, you can understand why God would get so mad about the sin of idolatry
because you're basically rejecting the true God.
You're saying, well, this is my God.
Right? It was like this.
Here we go. Just put a face on it. I'll start worshiping this.
I mean, what are people thinking?
It's insane, but that's what people do. Right?
Hosea 1 verse 10.
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea,
which cannot be measured nor numbered.
And it shall come to pass in the place where it is said unto them,
Ye are not my people.
There it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
Go back to the book of Daniel right before Hosea.
Before Hosea, we'll close up here in Daniel.
Daniel 6. Daniel chapter 6.
And as I said, this sermon's not really going to end with a conclusion.
It's going to be like taking a break.
Our goal, my goal, is to start by 11 for the second service
because we do have the Lord's Supper after the second service.
So Daniel 6 will be the last place we look at.
Daniel 6 verse 19.
Then the king arose very early in the morning,
and went in haste on the den of lions.
And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel.
And the king spake and said to Daniel,
O Daniel, servant of the living God,
is thy God whom thou servest continually able to deliver thee from the lions?
Now why would Darius, an unsaved person,
refer to the God of Daniel as the living God?
What makes sense?
Because God's people referred to God as the living God.
Doesn't that make sense?
That's why King Darius says, the living God.
Why? Because he probably heard the Gospel from Daniel
or he heard people use that phrase,
the living God, our God is the living God, living God.
So King Darius, an unsaved man, says the living God.
Verse 25.
Then King Darius wrote unto all people, nations and languages that dwell on all the earth,
peace be multiplied unto you.
I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom,
men tremble in fear before the God of Daniel,
for He is the living God.
So look, the Bible is consistent in the Old Testament.
It often refers to God as the living God.
The living God. The living God.
I remember many years ago as I was reading my Bible,
I just noticed this phrase popping up over and over and over again,
and then I just started to think, oh, the resurrection.
It makes sense. The living God.
And of course, Jesus is quoting back from Jeremiah 10,
and he says, I'm the resurrection of life.
It's like, man, this fits together perfectly.
The Old Testament is pointing towards Jesus Christ.
Let's close in the word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today in your house,
and we ask you to just bless this entire day,
the second service as well, and also the Lord's Supper afterwards.
God, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. For our last song, let's turn to hymn number 34.
Let's sing the song, I know that my Redeemer liveth.
Hymn number 34.
I know that my Redeemer liveth.
All the first ready. Everybody sing.
I know that my Redeemer liveth.
And on the earth again shall stand.
I know eternal life he gaveth.
The grace and power are in his hand.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth.
And on the earth again shall stand.
I know, I know that life he gaveth.
The grace and power are in his hand.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth.
And on the earth again shall stand.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth.
The grace and power are in his hand.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth.
And on the earth again shall stand.
I know, I know that life he gaveth.
I know that life he gaveth.
The grace and power are in his hand.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth.
The grace and power are in his hand.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth.
And he at last will come for me.
I know, I know that Jesus liveth.
And on the earth again shall stand.
I know, I know that life he gaveth.
The grace and power are in his hand.
Father Chris, can you pray for us?
Amen.